Family Forever
by Blue1272000
Summary: Leafcatcher and Blackfrost have tried for a long time to have kits. When it finally happens, they believe everything is going to be perfect. But one tragedy has torn their new family apart, and they must learn to accept and move on, or risk having their family lost to grief.


**Here's a quick little One-Shot story that I did for my friend 'Leafcatcher01" the characters in this story are hers and so is the basic plot-line. I just did the writing and details. **

**Family Forever**

Pale pink flowers dotted the bright green grass and a few scrub trees twisted around in the long grass, their leaves waving in the breeze. The sky was dark azure and large, fluffy, white clouds drifted slowly on the warm breeze.

Leafcatcher sat on a grassy ledge overlooking the sparkling blue river, the spray from the cold water kept her cool under the bright, burning sun. She gave her white paws a quick lick, then leaned over to see her reflection.

Her pale brown fur with tabby its markings that were only one shade darker then her fur, making them almost invisible, gleamed in the sunlight.

Then her white paws, chest, belly, ear-tips, tail-tip, and the white blaze on her forehead shined silkily in the clear water. Her bright leaf-green eyes were what stuck out the most in her reflection.

She gave her round belly a few licks, she could almost feel the life thrumming inside of her. She looked up at the familiar sound of paw-steps and turned to see her mate, Blackfrost, pad across the bank to her.

She breathed in his familiar scent, relishing in his fur against her side. Blackfrost had an interesting pelt, he had once been completely black, but now he was white with black tips. He was very large and handsome and had sparkling, frosty, blue eyes.

"How are you today?" he asked, his voice rumbled like where the water fell over the gorge.

"Just fine, and you?" she purred lightly, feeling serene in the tranquil day. With the sun sliding down in the sky, everything seemed to be drowsy, even the fish were sleeping on the river bottom.

"I'm glad you're feeling well. I'm feeling just fine as well," Blackfrost rumbled back, his mouth hardly moving as he sat down beside her. They'd been mates since when they'd become warriors, but that had been several seasons ago.

Leafcatcher reflected on how, even though they'd been mates for so long, they were just now having kits. Blackfrost had been ecstatic when she'd told him a two moons ago, since then he had insisted on taking care of her, it was annoying, but also sweet.

They watched the sun go down together, he had already fulfilled his warriors duties for the day and as a queen, she didn't have any duties. Just as the sun began to sink beyond the horizon and the last orange fingers were tracing though the sky, she felt a sudden pain in her belly.

She let out a gasp and stumbled onto her side. "Leafcatcher!" Blackfrost yowled in alarm.

"Go get Poolwish!" she hissed through the pain, "The kits are coming!"

…

Leafcatcher laid curled around her two moon old kits in the nursery, the affection and protectiveness she felt for them never ceased. She had three kits, two she-cats and one tom.

The first she-kit, Petalkit, was a shy, pale brown she-kit with a gentleness that made Leafcatcher believe she might be a medicine-cat. She also had green eyes that almost matched Leafcatcher's, and a fluffy tail that curled around her gently.

The only tom was Sagekit, he was black and had an irrational attitude that changed so quickly Leafcatcher was never sure how he felt. He also had green eyes and he reminded her of how Blackfrost when he was a kit, though he had been five moons when she was born.

The final kit was Cloudkit, a light grey she-kit with white spots and sparkling blue eyes. She was kind, playful, and thought mischief was a great thing. Her temperament was more like one would expect from a small kit.

Leafcatcher was quite proud of her kits, though she knew they were lonely because they were the only kits in the nursery. Unfortunately, she believed that Russetpaw, the only apprentice at the time, was being a bad influence for the kits.

Russetpaw had a snappy attitude and was constantly sarcastic, but because she was an apprentice she was who the kits looked up to. But Russetpaw didn't even mellow her temper when the kits were around her, instead, she seemed even more annoyed.

The thing that concerned Leafcatcher the most was Russetpaw's unreasonable rebellion, or 'independence' as Russetpaw called it. She hoped her own kits wouldn't start defying her or their mentors when it was time or try to break the rules.

Blackfrost often said he would speak with Russetpaw, but it never changed anything. Russetpaw, who had been rejected by her now deceased, mother, would always be unwilling to listen or trust any cat.

Leafcatcher curled deeper into her nest, the sun had set and she was tired from her distraught thoughts.

** …**

Leafcatcher woke in the morning to a cold and empty nest. Her fur was instantly on end, and not just from the storm that raged outside. _Where are my kits?!_ she thought wildly, whirling around in the nursery, but in the dim light she could hardly look properly.

Darting out of the nursery and into camp, she squinted her eyes against the relentless pounding rain, but could see no small kits in the early morning light. She flattened herself against the ground as thunder erupted overhead and let out a yowl, alerting the other cats,

"Leafcatcher? What's wrong?" Blackfrost asked worriedly, his face creased in a frown.

"Our kits!" she gasped, trying to stop her shaking legs, "They're gone!"

Blackfrost immediately looked alarmed. He told the other cats to search in camp and tell the leader what was happening. "They're not in camp!" Leafcatcher wailed, her paws pulling up grass as she kneaded the ground restlessly.

"Then we'll have to go look for them out of camp," Blackfrost mewed, telling a fellow warrior before bounding toward the entrance with Leafcatcher on his tail. Leafcatcher's chest tightened with fear as they searched in the rain to no avail.

_ I can't lose them now!_ her heart wailed over and over as she searched, eventually forgetting the lighting and thunder unless it struck right above her. After searching through the entire territory, Leafcatcher fell onto her belly on the same grassy ledge that she'd given birth on.

"Where can they be?! What if they fell in the river?" she cried, speaking the one thing they'd avoided even suggesting until now.

"Then we'll find them," Blackfrost mewed strongly, though it was obvious he was almost ready to give up as well.

Leafcatcher buried her head in her paws for a moment, trying not to imagine what her kits were feeling, had they felt lost? Betrayed? Forgotten? She could almost hear their piercing wails through the rumble of the storm.

Then she jerked her head up, she _could_ hear them, and they were close! Blackfrost must have heard it too for he said, "This way!" and led her to the riverbank.

The storm had swelled the river and the current rushed past so fast that even a RiverClan cat as herself would think twice before swimming into it. But the shrill wails drove her on.

Peering through the torrential downpour, she could faintly make out three tiny shapes clinging onto a log that had been swept along in the river before becoming stuck between another log and a rock.

Darting upstream a little, she jumped into the river, letting the river carry her over to her kits. The water was cold and the current spun her around so that she lost her sense of direction, then she heard her kits calls.

Kicking out in that direction, she found herself nose-to-nose with Sagekit. She clung onto the log and glanced at Blackfrost as he appeared beside her. She grabbed Sagekit, who was shivering and hardly looked conscious.

Blackfrost grabbed Cloudkit who was wailing in fear. Leafcatcher was reaching for Petalkit when a strong wave crashed against them and the logs were dislodged. Through the corner of her eyes, she could see Blackfrost washed up on the bank, then she went down under water.

She felt something bump her side and her grip on Sagekit was wrenched lose. Panic tore through her as she realized she could no longer see him or Petalkit as the current tumbled her over and over in the river.

She broke the surface just as she was running out of breath and her heart jumped when she saw Sagekit lying limply on top of the tumbling water. The stillness of him made her blood run cold.

She kicked out toward him and grabbed his tiny black scruff and dragged him to the riverbank. She laid him down in front of her and massaged his tiny black body, desperately wanting for him to choke up a mouthful of water or twitch his tiny ears, anything to show he was still alive.

But as the scent of the river faded, the scent of death covered his body and she could no longer ignore the truth. Greif, sharp as claws, tore her heart to shreds. She wailed all her grief to the stormy grey sky, the only answer she got was a faint rumble of thunder.

…

Leafcatcher buried her son on the grassy ledge over the river and had left a pile of stones, sticking a few sage leaves in between the pebbles, over his grave. She padded back with a heavy heart to see if Petalkit had been found and if Cloudkit was okay.

She met Blackfrost on the riverbank, his gaze searched hers for a moment, but her grief-stricken expression and empty paws told him all he needed to know.

He pressed against her as she swayed on her paws, she could hardly believe she'd never see her beloved son again. She closed her eyes, letting the torrent of grief wash over her, leaving her calmer and more clear-headed then before.

"Did you find Petalkit?" she asked desperately she didn't know how she'd be able to cope with losing another kit.

Blackfrost shook his head and she swayed again on her paws again, then she turned, determined to find Petalkit, but Blackfrost stepped in her way. "You're exhausted," he protested as she glared at him.

Leafcatcher wanted to argue that she wasn't but she felt to empty. "Petalkit needs me, needs _us_," she pressed instead, her voice quavering.

"Another patrol will go out to look, but you need to sleep and take care of Cloudkit, she's badly shaken," Blackfrost mewed calmly, though his eyes said he felt as she did, helpless.

She sighed and nodded, stumbling toward camp, but sure that she wouldn't be able to sleep as long as her daughter was lost.

…

She did sleep though, the rest of the day and night, but her dreams were full of black water, the cry of her kits, and she was powerless to do anything but watch them be washed away.

She opened her eyes, feeling feverish from her wet fur drying out against her. Cloudkit slept at her belly, her tiny face buried in her fur. Leafcatcher didn't watch her kit as she used to, instead she got to her paws and stumbled away, leaving her kit to cry alone.

She started out of camp, knowing from the murmurs that Petalkit hadn't been found. Until she saw her daughter's body, she refused to believe there was no hope left. She padded along the bank, padding around the debris left from the flood.

She scanned the river, it was as it always had been, playful and calm, but Leafcatcher just searched for a lump of pale brown fur. When she was almost to the edge of the territory she spotted something moving in the water.

It was a scrap of sodden, brown fur caught in a tangle of tree roots where the bank had been washed away. Hope surged through her as the fur moved, _she is still alive!_ She jumped into the river and swam across to the tree, calling out to Petalkit.

As she reached the roots, her hope fell and shattered into a million pieces. It was Petalkit alright, her fur caught in the roots and her tail being tugged by the current, moving like it was still alive. But Petalkit was cold and dead, her head wrenched awkwardly and a tiny trail of blood still dripped from her tiny mouth.

Full of sorrow, Leafcatcher grabbed her kit gently and pulled her from the tangled roots before swimming back to the riverbank. Heavy pawed and heavy-hearted, she carried Petalkit back to the grassy ledge over the river where Sagekit was buried.

For the second day in a row, she dug a small grave and gently put her daughter in it before pushing earth back on top of it. She gathered more rocks and made a little mound of them, this time placing a bunch of flowers under the top rock, marking it at Petalkit's grave.

When she had finished, she sat back and crumpled onto the ground in grief, for a moment it had been so perfect, now the moment was gone and two of the most precious things to her were gone. She buried her face in her paws and sobbed quietly.

After awhile, Blackfrost approached her, settling down next to her, his tail laid over her shoulders though his eyes shone with deep grief as he looked at the two graves.

That night as Leafcatcher curled down around Cloudkit, she couldn't help but wish she was dead as well.

…

The next two moons passed slowly, Cloudkit grew, but she was now solemn, whether it was because she remembered what had happened, or if Leafcatcher's blank expression wore off on her.

One sunny, warm day when Leafcatcher was sharing tongues with Blackfrost and the weight of grief was lessened, Leafcatcher was padding back to the nursery when she realized Cloudkit wasn't there. Her heart jumping with fear, she searched camp but couldn't find her lone, remaining kit.

She and Blackfrost searched the territory, but again, they couldn't find their last kit. Leafcatcher had given up long before they'd finished, but there was no more room for grief in her heart so she just dropped her head and padded to the grassy ledge where the graves of her other two kits were.

She looked up in surprise when she saw a small pale grey shape in front of the two piles of rocks. Bounding forward, she caught Cloudkit in her paws and purred in relief as she licked her kit hastily.

"Get off of me!" Cloudkit protested in her squeaky voice.

"What are you doing here?! You're not allowed out of camp until you're six moon old!" Leafcatcher gasped, keeping Cloudkit between her two paws.

"I just wanted to visit my brother and sister," Cloudkit protested.

Leafcatcher was shocked, _how does she know this is their grave? I never told any cat but Blackfrost!_

"I usually see them in my dreams, but I wanted to see them today too," Cloudkit explained, looking up at her with wide, innocent, blue eyes.

Leafcatcher shared a shocked look with Blackfrost. "What do you mean, 'see them in your dreams?" she asked.

"I see them in the sky, they play with me and tell me one day I'll join them forever. But they say that it won't be soon" Cloudkit's voice started getting distant, an older look coming to her eyes.

Leafcatcher was swarmed with guilt that while she had been brooding in her nest, Cloudkit had sat quietly, trying to ease her grief and cherishing her secret.

"Will we always be a family?" Cloudkit asked, snuggling against Leafcatcher's white chest.

Guilt crashed over her again, and Leafcatcher leaned down to give Cloudkit a gentle lick on the head. Blackfrost wrapped his body around her and Leafcatcher stared at the graves of her two kits.

For a moment, she thought she saw two kits, one, a black tom with green eyes and the other a pale brown she-cat with green eyes, their eyes bore into hers, then she blinked and they disappeared.

"Did you see them?" Cloudkit whispered in her ear.

"Yes, I saw them," Leafcatcher murmured back. She stared at the two small graves, "And we will all be a family forever."

**...**

**Hope you liked it! please review! oh, and don't think I'm going to make a habit of writing stories for other people.**


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